Int.J.Eng.Lang.Lit&Trans.StudiesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE, Vol.3.Issue. LITERATURE 2.2016 (Apr-Jun) AND TRANSLATION STUDIES (IJELR) A QUARTERLY, INDEXED, REFEREED AND PEER REVIEWED OPEN ACCESS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL

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RESEARCH ARTICLE

ARTICLE Vol. 3. Issue.2.,2016 (April-June )

THE NONSENSE WORLD OF SUKUMAR ROY: THE INFLUENCE OF BRITISH COLONIALISM ON SUKUMAR ROY’S NONSENSE POEMS-WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ABOL-TABOL

ABHIK MAITI Pursuing M.A in English, , , & M.A in History, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, West Bengal.

ABSTRACT The British Raj produced, and continued to inspire, a genre of literature in which the writing of Rudyard Kipling, E. M. Forster, John Masters and Paul Scott among others features prominently. Kipling more or less subscribed to the dominant attitude of superiority with his concept of the “white man's burden", other writers including Forster in A Passage to India exposed the hypocrisy and mean spiritedness of colonial rule. Such literature, together with the non-fiction work of Charles Allen, reveals the views and habits that the British developed in India, their preoccupation with

ABHIK MAITI precedence, their attitude towards servants especially and Indians generally and their attempt to replicate a British life-style in a very different environment. Nonsense

poetry gained popularity in English literature under Lear and Carroll although its roots can be traced back from classical antiquity. However, in the genre of Bengali nonsense poetry, Sukumar Roy remains unparalleled. Through his immortal creation of Abol Tabol, he parodies the British Raj and the pseudo-bourgeois “Babu Culture” in emerging metropolitans such as Calcutta.

Keywords: Abol Tabol, Sukumar Roy, Carroll, British Colonialism, satire, Nonsense Verse.

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Earnest nonsense, which follows logically the initial pattern of its absurdity, as many limericks, as Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass where mathematics and chess control the world of rigamarole. This nonsense (the off-with-her-head Duchess, Alice in the wood surrounded by mad folk, Humpty Dumpty’s business dealing with his words) has a topsy turvy bearing on real life. Nonsense here is achieved through logic, reason on a holiday- for “mankind in the main has always regarded reason as a bit of a

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Int.J.Eng.Lang.Lit&Trans.Studies Vol.3.Issue. 2.2016 (Apr-Jun) joke.” (Chesterton) This often leads us along familiar paths until we look up in a nonsense world where we are nonetheless surprisingly at home” (The Dictionary of World Literary Terms. Edited by T.Shipley) (30 October 1887-10 September 1923), the Bengali humorous poet, story writer and playwright was born in a Bramho family in Calcutta, India on October 1887. Born in the era which can be called the pinacle of the Bengal Renaissance, he grew up in an environment that fostered his literary talents. His works as the collection of poems ‘Aboltabol’, (আবফোর তোবফোর) novella ‘Ha Ja Ba Ra La’, (঴ ম ফ য র) short story collection ‘Pagla Dashu’ (঩োগরো দোশু) and play ‘Chalachitta-chanchari’ ( চরচচত্ত-চঞ্চচয) are considered equal in stature to Alice in Wonderland. Although before Sukumar Roy, Trailakyanath Mukherjee (1847-1919) had gifted his Bengali readers with the comic elements in his creativity and in post Roy literary sphere, Sunirmal Bose, Annadasankar Roy or Premendra Mittra had left their mark, but they were devoid of the sharp insight Roy had in parodying his contemporary society and the falsity in it. What Trailakyanath in his lucid rural dialect had left to achieve, Roy took the helm and carried it forward in his satiric description of modern city life, the ‘Babu culture’ imposed upon the rising middle class by the British imperialists and finally of the colonizers themselves. In that respect, Roy’s nonsense poetry becomes pregnant with anti colonial sentiments that lie in a shimmering haze under the guise of an apparently meaningless ramble of children’s verse. “In an absurd universe without belief there are no ethical standards, no moral judgement, no perception of valid motifs; one thing or one action is as good as another.” (The Dictionary of World Literary Terms; J.T.Shipley) Krishnarup Bhattacharya in ‘Sukumar Royer Aschorjo Jogot’ writes “ ফুদ্ধবদফ ফ঳ু তোাঁয ‘কচফ ঳ু嗁ভোয যোয় প্রফবে (ফুদ্ধবদফ ফ঳ুয যচনো঳ংগ্র঴ ১ভ খন্ড’) ‘আবফোর তোবফোর’ – এয ছড়ো巁চরবক চতন綿 শ্রেনীবত বোগ কবযচছবরন। প্রথভ শ্রেনীবত ফুদ্ধবদফ এই ধযবনয ছড়োবক অন্তবুু ক্ত কযবত চোন, মোবক ফরো শ্রমবত ঩োবয human experiences exaggerated- (চযো঩চরবনয চ঱ল্প ঳ম্ববে কচথত)। ‘ শ্রগোাঁপচুচয’, ‘ কোতু嗁তু ফুবড়ো’, ‘ প঳বক শ্রগর’, ‘ 膿কোনো’, ‘ কোাঁদুবন’, ‘ গোবনয 巁াঁবতো’, ‘ শ্রচোয ধযো’, ‘ কোঠফুবড়ো’, ‘঳োফধোন’, ‘ ফুচঝবয় ফরো’, ‘ ডোনচ঩বে’ প্রবৃ চত এই ধযবনয ছড়ো। এ巁চরয শ্রকোবনো-শ্রকোবনো綿য ভবধয শ্রকোথো঑ চিয অবথুয অনয উবযয঱য প্রচতবোত ঴বর঑ যব঳য চফচোবয এ巁চর ঐ শ্রেণীয। চিতীয় শ্রেণীয কচফতো ফো ছড়ো প্র঳বেই ‘঴ ম ফ য র’ ফো শ্র঴ব঱োযোবভয কোচ঴নীবক ভবন ঩বয। শ্রফোঝোই মোবে শ্রম, এই巁চর আজ巁চফ শ্রেনীয। ‘চখচুচড়’, ‘嗁ভবড়ো঩েো঱’, ‘হাঁবকোভুবখো ঴যোংরো’, ‘েযোাঁ঱ গ쇁’, ‘বয় শ্র঩বয়ো নো’ প্রবৃ চতবক এই শ্রেণীয অন্তবুু ক্ত কযো মোয়। ‘঴ ম ফ য র’ য ভবতোই এ巁চরয শ্রকোবনো-শ্রকোবনো綿য ভবধয ঑ শ্রকোবনো-শ্রকোবনো োবন ঳ভোজ-঳ভোবরোচনোত্মক ভন উাঁচক শ্রভবযবছ- চকন্তু তো঑ ছড়ো巁চরয ভূর স্ববোফ আজ巁চফয য঳বক নষ্ট কবযচন” Born in an extremely politics conscious family and surrounded by luminaries like , , Prafulla Chandra Roy and his father Upendrakishore, Ray grew up in an environment that fostered his literary talents and his poetry shows an extremely poignant ridicule of the rising Bengali middle class and their pseudo-bourgeois ways. The poems depict in a garb of comic deliberation; the futility of human endeavour and the ridicule it generates in the process. “Surrealism turns away from life, but the absurd claims to be a reflection of life.”(The Dictionary of World Literature. T.J.Shipley) Baburam Sapurey, (ফোফুযোভ ঳ো঩ুবড়) reveals an interesting study of the gradual influx of British East India Company on the soils of the nation while it was still in its hay-days. The speaker may be identified with th the British imperialists and the snake charmer “Babu ram” (ফোফুযোভ) with Farrukhsiyar, the 10 Mughal Empire. The Farrukhsiyar’s Farman (April 1717) gave the Company the right to purchase 38 villages around Sutanuti, Gobindopur and Kolikata and collect taxes directly from the provinces and instilled rulers who would suit the interest of the Company. Roy then goes on an elaborate description of the easily mouldable and docile nature of the apparently powerful and revered figure heads like the Nawab of Bengal- Shiraj Doulla and later the Nizam of Hyderabad and Oudh whose presence only facilitated the colonialists in enriching their coffers without stirring up much ado. (Here, the imagery of the snakes can be equated with both dread and reverence. Much like the kings and rulers were)

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As the readers move on to Sotpatro, (঳ৎ঩োত্র) “kongso raj er bongsodhor”(কং঳ যোবজয ফং঱ধয) identifies the protagonist’s Indian roots and lays down upon him “rong jodio bejay kalo”-(যং মচদ঑ শ্রফজোয় কোবরো) which reminds us of Ania Loomba’s reading of Caliban in Tempest where Caliban has been depicted as the black native and “abhorred slave”. Marriage between British and Indians, though, did occur, producing the Anglo-Indian community. This is explored by Masters in his Bhowani Junction, and other works. In Wicked Women of the British Raj by Coralie Younger, this theme of marriage has received ample attention and discussion through her “unputdownable factual account of the zenana world of the rajas and sultans of India, concentrating n the Firangi bahus and begums of this veiled world of myths and folklore” and of the “European women who broke society’s rules to marry the ‘heathen’ princes of the pompous and extravagant Indian aristocracy” In Gof Churi (শ্রগোাঁপ চুচয) we have the “head officer boro babu” ( শ্র঴ড অচপব঳য ফড়ফোফু) that puns the Bengali “Babu culture” that sought to make a living off their British masters. The protagonist’s reference “Nongra chata, khangra jhata bicchiri ar moyla (শ্রনোংযো ছোাঁেো খযোংযো ঝোাঁেো চফচেচয আয ভয়রো) Amon gof to rakhto jani Shyambabu der goyla” (এভন শ্রগোাঁপ-ত যোখত জোচন ঱যোভফোফুবদয গয়রো) is demeaning as it portrays that the physical appearance of none but the lower class people may exhibit such traits. Pyacha Koy Pyachani (঩যোাঁচো কয় ঩যোাঁচোচন) may be studied as an interesting case-study of the relation between the East India Company and its ties with mainland England. Although functioning under the protective umbrella of Mainland England, the relationship between the individual companies working independently in the colonies were often strained with the mainland. Thereby, a policy of appeasement was often followed by the Company to let it carry on with its Opium trade and independent misrule; often at the cost of heavily enriching the royal coffers. The role of the ‘pyacha’ (঩যোাঁচো) appeasing the ‘pyachani’ (঩যোাঁচোচন) may be equated with the appeasement policy followed by the British in India with the English Queen. Through lyrical creations as “Samney tahar khaddo jholey, jar je rokom ruchi, (঳োভবন তো঴োয খোদয শ্রঝোবর মোয শ্রম যকভ 쇁চচ) Monda mithai chop cutlet, khaja kimba luchi, (ভন্ডো চভঠোই চ঩ কোেবরে খোজো চকংফো রুচচ) Mon boley tai khabo khabo,mukh choley tai khetey, (ভন ফবর তোই ‘খোফ খোফ’, ভুখ চবর তোই শ্রখবত) Mukher songey khabar chotey,palla diyey metey”; (ভুবখয ঳বে খোফোয শ্রছোবে ঩োল্লো চদবয় শ্রভবত) The readers are left to question whether Khuror Kol (খুবড়োয কর) portrays the lure of high offices and fat salaries dangled by the imperialists that produced a class of the westernized to work for the Company till they realized that most of the high places were reserved for the colonizers themselves and not through the basis of merit. This became a contributing factor to the growth of nationalism in gradual times. Roy’s poem Thikana (膿কোনো) may remind the readers of “turn up on your right hand at the next turning, but at the next turning of all, on your left; marry at the very next turning , turn of no hand, but turn down indirectly to the Jew’s house” (Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare). According to Gestalt psychologists, the idea of the “absurd” is infact rooted to reality. Thereby, Roy borrows his characters from real life, mainly the rising middle class and interestingly enough, centres them on an emerging city life- the initial vortex for rootlessness. To evaluate the colonial impact of Roy’s poems, a foreknowledge of the history of Bengal and particularly of Calcutta becomes indispensable. The bustling city life grew up around Fort William to seek protection from the plundering raiders and to earn a livelihood by working for the British. Just as Calcutta gave people a new identity (or a loss of it?), it also fostered

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Int.J.Eng.Lang.Lit&Trans.Studies Vol.3.Issue. 2.2016 (Apr-Jun) rootlessness and a sense of alienation so poignant in Roy’s poem Thikana (膿কোনো) or “Address” that lays light upon this theme of the loss of individual identity as the readers are made to move through a maze to seek out the “address” of one who is apparently a known individual. At its hay-days, Calcutta saw an influx of people from the villages who came and settled in shanty towns around the fringes of the city. The by-lanes and alley ways receiving mentioning here may also refer to those tightly knit shanty towns growing up in claustrophobia and almost without a breathing space. Burir Bari (ফুড়ীয ফোড়ী) leaves us open to the question whether the house loosely held together is infact a portrait of the colonies, the old lady to Queen Victoria herself and the gradually failing attempt of the colonizers to maintain the colonies in the aftermath of the First World War scenario when mass revolution had already begun to make a front. Another interesting dimension added to the written verse is the illustrations Roy have made to substantiate his poetry. ‘Ekusey Ain’ (এ嗁ব঱ আইন) for example portrays figures with rigid geometric proportions and an Indian Sepoy arresting one of his fellow countrymen. Poems like ‘Khuror Kol’,(খুবড়োয কর) ‘Gof Churi’ (শ্রগোাঁপ চুচয) and ‘Haturey’ (঴োতুবড়)- all denotes the westernized Bengalee. ‘Bhuturey Khala’ ( বূতুবড় শ্রখরো) is a satiric description of the famines and the emaciated figures it leaves at its aftermath. The phrase ‘Bina chosmatey’ (চফনো চ঱ভোবত) denotes the poets vision of reality without the stereotyped ideals imposed on it.The ‘panto bhuter janto chana’ (঩োন্ত বূবতয জযোন্ত ছোনো) becomes symbolic of the corpse like bodies of babies barely alive in the aftermath of the famines created by the First World War on India from whose soil, was supplied food to sustain the troops across the globe at the cost of starving India. The term "bhuter faki miliye gelo chot korey" (বূবতয পোাঁচক চভচরবয় চে কবয) in the final concluding stanza depicts the inevitable self-surrendering of ourselves as we separate ourselves from reality into the comforts that a bourgeois culture provides. The poem satirizes the middle class morality and its conditional ability to avoid looking into the reality. Ekushey Ain(এ嗁ব঱ আইন) begins with ‘sib thakurer apon deshey’ (চ঱ফ ঠো嗁বযয আ঩ন শ্রদব঱) identifying the glories of classical antiquity and shifts to ‘ain kanun sorbonese’ (আইন কোনুন ঳ফুবনব঱) that has been imposed by the colonial rullers. This poem is remarkable for its vivid description of anti-imperialist feelings. ‘Sethay sondhey chotar agey, hachtey holey ticket lage’ (শ্র঳থোয় ঳বেয ছেোয আবগ, ঴োাঁচবত ঴বর 綿চকে রোবগ) scorns at the British ruler's attempt to bring in suppress at the slightest possible instance. George Lamning in Pleasures of Exile has pointed out the subordinate position held by the colonised natives to economic and ideological “master race” and that the colonized “must surrender their liberty in the interest of men (British)” (Fielding Hall, Political Officer in the British Colonial Administration) ‘Karor jodi gof gojay, Akso ana tax chay’ (কো쇁য মচদ শ্রগোাঁপ গজোয়, একব঱ো আনো েযোক঳ চোয়) refers to the indiscriminate taxation imposed on the Indian soil while ‘Jesob lokey poddo lekhey, Tader dhorey khachay rekhey’ (শ্রম঳ফ শ্ররোবক ঩দয শ্ররবখ, তোবদয ধবয খোাঁচোয় শ্রযবখ) may be seen as a reference to the censorship imposed on the intellectuals who try to reveal the ugly face of the empire. ‘Huko Mukho Hangla’ (হাঁবকোভুবখো ঴যোংরো) is a vivid representation of the average Bengalee adhering to the Babu culture and surviving on the patronage of the crown and the deliberations they face and how the slightest instance of disorientation brings them out off their comfort zone and leaves them displaced. The ‘thanadar’ (থোনোদোয) uncle represents the lower ranks of administration vested out to the natives. A study of the poem ‘Bigyan Siksha’ (চফজ্ঞোন চ঱ক্ষো) may be achieved with a foreknowledge of Sukumar Roy's life. Roy who graduated with Physics and Chemistry from Presidency College, Calcutta, also studied lithography and photography. Roy,himself a scientist in all respect but endowed with a poet's sensibility could see through the attempts made by the lemon squeezing school to define and classify everything in terms of scientific postulates and deliberations recently brought in and popularized by the colonialists. In ‘Bhoy Peona’ (বয় শ্র঩঑নো) we get a picture of how the colonialists gradually rope in the colonised. The reader can associate the term ‘mathay amar sing dekhey vai’ (ভোথোয় আভোয চ঱ঙ শ্রদবখ বোই) with the British

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Int.J.Eng.Lang.Lit&Trans.Studies Vol.3.Issue. 2.2016 (Apr-Jun) crown and the ‘mugur’ (ভু巁য) with the ‘boniker man dondo’ (ফচনবকয ভোনদণ্ড) turned into the ruler's ‘raj dondo’ (যোজ দন্ড) as the traders turned into rullers with the passage of time. Finaly ‘ovoy dicchi suncho na j’ (অবয় চদচে শুনছ নো শ্রম) denotes the use of brutal power when cajoling and deliberations fail. "The Carracci brothers, who invented caricatura, developed the idea of 'perfect deformity' in their satirical sketches. Hogarth's prints, which attacked moral shortcomings in society rather than individual idiosyncrasies, made the transition from broadsheets to cartoons as an art form. But it was the printing presses in Britain that turned cartoons into pictorial journalism, dominated by the genius of Gillray and Rowlandson. The first comic illustrations by the British expatriates chew upon Rowland-son's cartoons on the Raj. Humorous drawings, as entertainment rather than as social protest, spread with the rise of illustrated magazines. In India, by the 1850s, the British cartoonist found ample material in the social 'foibles' of his community. The first visiting artist to explore this was Sir Charles D'Oyly. His Tom Raw the Griffin (1828) charted the faux pas of an East India Company novice and the funny situations in which the lad found himself. The British cartoonists in India as well as Indians learned from D'Oyly and similar artists."- (The Power of the Printed Image) “আবফোর তোবফোর- এয ছড়োয ঳বে অবেদযবোবফ জচড়বয় আবছ তোয ছচফ। ঩যশুযোবভয গবল্পয ভবতো (মতীন্দ্র শ্র঳নকৃ ত ছচফ ‘গন্ডচরকোয বূচভকোয় যচফন্দ্রনোথ এ ঳ম্পবকু শ্ররবখন, “শ্ররখনীয ঳বে তুচরকোয কী চভৎকোয শ্রজোড় চভচরবয়বছ, শ্ররখোয ধোযো শ্রযখোয ধোযো ঳ভোন তোবর চবর, শ্রক঴ কো঴োবযো শ্রচবয় খোবেো নব঴ তোই চচযত্র巁রো বোলোয় ঑ শ্রচ঴োযোয়, বোবফ ঑ বচেবত, ডোইবন ফোবভ এভন কচযয়ো ধযো ঩চড়য়োবছ শ্রম তো঴োবদয আয ঩রোইফোয পোাঁক নোই।“ চরয়বযয ছড়োয ভত (মোবক ছচফবত ফযোখযো কবযবছন শ্ররখক চনবজই), কযোযবরয গবল্পয ছচফয ভবতো (শ্রজচন থনুকৃ ত) ফো ‘শ্র঳য ছচফয ভত (যফীন্দ্রকৃ ত) এখোবন শ্ররখোয ঳বে স্ববোবফ, 巁ণ঩নোয় ঳ভোবন ঩োল্লো চদবয়বছ এয অনফদয ছচফ巁চর। উব঩ন্দ্রচকব঱োবযয ছচফ আাঁকোয ভুচিয়োনো ঳ু嗁ভোয যোয় ঴বয় ঳তযচজৎ ঩মুন্ত প্র঳োচযত। তোাঁবদয গল্প ফো ছড়োয ফযোখযো 쇂ব঩ অবনক ছচফই তোাঁযো এাঁবকবছন। তবফ উব঩ন্দ্রচকব঱োয ঑ ঳তযচজবতয ছচফ শ্রমভন চচত্র-ফযোকযবণয চদক শ্রথবক঑ চনবুু র, ঳ু嗁ভোবযয ছচফবত শ্র঳বক্ষবত্র ভোবঝ-ভোবঝ জযোচভচতয শ্রদৌফুরয, ভোনুবলয ঱যীযগঠন ঩দ্ধচত ঳ম্ববে চচত্রীয অনচবজ্ঞতো রক্ষয কযো মোয়। তবফ এ ঳ফচকছুবকই ঩ুচলবয় চদবয়বছন ঳ু嗁ভোয চতন綿 চজচনব঳য িোযো। এক, তোাঁয অ঳োধোযন ঩মুবফক্ষণ-঱চক্ত মো ভূর চফলয় ঑ তোয ঩চয঩োর্শ্ুবক খুাঁ綿নো綿 ঳বভত ধবয শ্রযবখবছ।” ( Krishnarup Bhattacharya, Sukumar Royer Aschorjo Jogot) The illustrations of Roy to verse works like ‘Allhadi’, ‘Kaduney’ and ‘Haturey’ (঴োতুবড়) shows a caustic parody of British culture. The illustration to ‘Ekushey Ain’(এ嗁ব঱ আইন) is equally significant for we notice the arbitariness of British misrule while ‘Khurur Kol’ ,(খুবড়োয কর), ‘Gof Churi’ (শ্রগোাঁপ চুচয) and the like shows a more westernised ‘babu’ culture and indulges in its parody. Few satirists in Bengal rivalled his vocabulary of invented words. But the work that best caught his genius came in the final stages of his brief life - Abol Tabol, a collection of verse from a supreme word-maker. In The Power of the Printed Image, the author has depicted how the readers were then treated to a new form of comic drawing that blended fantasy and sharp observation of cultural behaviour. As a child, Sukumar read European humorous publications and he sometimes used them as a point of departure for his work. His poem 'Danpitey' (The Little Horror), for instance, reminds us of the notorious brats of the American strip cartoon, 'The Katzenjammer Kids'; yet Sukumar's brats are definitely Bengali brats. Heath Robinson's uncle Lubin and his fantastic machines is similar in spirit to Sukumar's poem, ‘Khuror Kol’ (খুবড়োয কর). Robinson's machine solves the problem of eating tricky little items at dinner as Ray's machine enables one to travel great distances fast: the incentive is some mouth-watering food dangling just beyond reach. Sukumar's unique blend of literary and pictorial wit forms the bridge between drawings for children and social and political cartoons, the other thriving genre in illustrated magazines. Caricature, which makes an unsentimental observation of human foibles, was part of Sukumar's humour but the element of cruelty or the grotesque used by cartoonists for effect fell outside his dream world. The earliest newspapers to carry political cartoons were the English- owned Bengal Hurkaru and the Indian Gazette in the 1850s. Within decades, cartoons appeared in papers owned by Indians, as colonial administration became the legitimate target of journalists. The nationalist paper of Bengal, Amrita Bazar Patrika, published its first cartoon in 1872.44 One of the earliest cartoons to make a political impact was in Sulav Samachar in the 1870s. Its message foreshadowed

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Int.J.Eng.Lang.Lit&Trans.Studies Vol.3.Issue. 2.2016 (Apr-Jun) the Ilbert Bill (1882) which sought to abolish the immunity of European offenders to being tried by Indian judges, a government measure fought tooth and nail by the expatriate British. Sulav Samdchar put the Indian case forcefully by highlighting a blatant injustice: often poorer sections of the Indians were found to be assaulted by Europeans, leading to their death. If the case came to court at all, the 'enlarged spleen' of the victims were blamed for their deaths. The cartoon shows a dead coolie with his weeping wife by his side. A European doctor conducts a perfunctory post mortem while the offender stands nonchalantly smoking a cigar. This suggestion of collusion between European judges and offenders did have an impact, if not the intended one. It was among the incriminating evidence that led to the vernacular press censorship of 1878. The assaults continued as late as 1908, as Upendrakishore's indignant satire in Modern Review suggests: “It is almost as natural for a healthy human animal to kick as it is for a horse or a cow. And kicking is a delightful pastime too. But it is deeply to be deplored that Indians should have maliciously . . . developed very big spleens, which are ruptured at the slightest touch of a human animal's boots, so that the possessors of these enlarged spleens die . . . It is sad . . . what trouble and expense the kickers are put to, and how much of the time of the British Indian Law Courts is wasted ... In order to save kickers ... trouble and expense in future and to prevent the waste of time of the Law Courts, we have invented the Spleen-protector . . .” In Abol Tabol the magical met the real in brilliantly matched words and images. But these nonsense poems specialised in Bengali idiosyncrasies, Their 'untranslatability' stems from the fact that the puns and alliterations ingeniously juxtapose Bengali and English. Sukumar Ray plays with the Bengali resonance of certain English words and images inextricably bound to bhadrolok or babu culture. That mixture made perfect sense in, the bilingual colonial milieu of urban Calcutta in the early decades of this century. In later time, perhaps only Salman Rushdie has attempted a simitar play with words (using by contrast Indian words within novels written in English). Those who can fully appreciate his work must be familiar with both cultures. The outlandish behaviour of Sukumar's characters amused Bengali readers because hardly anyone failed to recognise the originals. This is not true of Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky. Jabberwock was a purely fantastic creature, an idea reinforced by the meaningless words invented for it; but Sukumar's 'Tickle-My-Ribs' was near to that well-known figure, the dreadful bore, who was oblivious of other people's feelings. He repeated his stock of excruciating jokes and expected people to laugh at them every time. Another set of characters, eternally condemned to portentous solemnity, evoked all sorts of memories, especially of self-righteous humbugs at prayer meetings. The colonial interaction was prominently also a target. The maudlin 'Blighty Cow' was manifestly a hybrid that surely only colonialism could have produced. The bizarre ‘Ekushey Ain’(এ嗁ব঱ আইন) that prevailed in the land of Lord Siva was likely a pointed allusion to the British Raj; under this law one could be fined for merely tripping accidentally. Sukumar was here exposing the absurdity of the laws passed during the Swadeshi era but his message was so gossamer-like that it seldom jarred. Edward Lear's limericks deeply influenced Sukumar Roy. Both of them shared a passion for mingling the surreal with the mundane. Both possessed a flair for standing a perfectly logical statement on its head. Both of them generated funny, gently satirical ideas. Both eschewed sarcasm, malice and ridicule; both left out the cruel and the grotesque. Above all, they were inspired illustrators. And yet their works display significant cultural as well as temperamental differences. Melancholy tinges Lear's verses, whereas Ray's topsy-turvy world is full of robust laughter. The finest instance is perhaps the 'Dream Song', which forms the closing verse of Abol Tabol; composed in the last weeks of Sukumar's life, when he was dying from kala-azar at the age of thirty-five: The spirits dance in cloudy vaults. Where elephants turn somersaults. While flying steeds their wings unfold. And naughty boys turn good as gold.. A keen primordial lunar chill, The nightmare's next with bunchy frill – My drowsy brain such glimpses steep, 448 ABHIK MAITI

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And all my singing ends in sleep.'"' Even if the rhythm and the imagery of the poem lose a lot in translation, as they are bound to, the creative spirit still alive at the approach of death, and the poet's total absence of self-pity, cannot but remind us of other creators in a similar situation, notably Schubert. Krishnarup Bhattacharya in Sukumar Royer Aschorjo Jogot writes “ আ঩োতত ভবন ঴য় শ্র঱ল ছড়ো綿বত (‘আবফোর তোবফোর’) 쇂঩কথোয অনু঩ভ চভচষ্ট শ্র঳ৌন্দমুকল্পনোয ঳বে ঘুভ ঩োড়োফোয ঳ুয চভব঱ শ্রগবছ। চকন্তু ঳তযচজৎ ঑ ঩োথু ফ঳ু ঳ম্পোচদত ‘঳ভগ্র চ঱শু঳োচ঴তয : ঳ু嗁ভোয যোয়’ (আনন্দ ঩োফচর঱ো঳ু) –এয বূচভকোয় ঳তযচজৎ শ্রম খফয চদবেন, তোবত এই কচফতো綿য অনয এক綿 অবথুয য঴঳য উদ্ভোচ঳ত ঴বয় ঑বঠ : “তোাঁয শ্র঱ল যচনো চছর আবফোর তোবফোবরয শ্র঱ল কচফতো, মোয চফচচত্র চভে য঳ ফোংরো ঳োচ঴বতয চচযকোবরয চফস্মবয়য ফস্তু ঴বয় থোকবফ। এ綿 যচনোয ঳ভবয় শ্রম তোাঁয উ঩য ভৃতু যয ছোয়ো ঩বড়চছর, তোয ইচেত এয শ্র঱ল কবয়ক ছবত্র আবছ- আচদভ কোবরয চোাঁচদভ চ঴ভ শ্রতোড়োয় ফোাঁধো শ্রঘোড়োয চডভ। ঘচনবয় এর ঘুবভয শ্রঘোয গোবনয ঩োরো ঳োে শ্রভোয। জীফনভৃতু যয ঳চেক্ষবণ উ঩চত ঴বয় এভন যচ঳কতো আয শ্রকোবনো য঳স্রষ্টোয ঩বক্ষ ঳ম্ভফ ঴বয়বছ ফবর জোনো শ্রনই।“঳তকু ঩োঠবকয শ্রচোবখ ঩ড়বফ শ্রম শুধু শ্র঱ল চোয綿 ঩旍চক্তবত নয়, জীফন নোবেযয ভঞ্চ শ্রথবক চফদোয় শ্রনফোয অনুবফ কচফতো綿য ত্রবয়োদ঱ ঩旍চক্তবত঑ আবোচ঳ত ঴বয়চছর : “আজবক দোদো মোফোয আবগ ফরফ মো শ্রভোয চচবত্ত রোবগ-“ Like Alice’s dream (in “the drowsy hypnagogic period experienced just before falling asleep; at that time, images and apparently random thinking may well up and float freely) Roy’s final poem depicts a dream vision, an utopia, a wistful longing for freedom and liberation –‘Hethay nisedh nai re dada, Nai re badhon, nai re badha’ (শ্র঴থোয় চনবলধ নোইবয দোদো, নোইবয ফোাঁধন, নোইবয ফোাঁধো ) that he had advocated in the earlier section of his creation. The poem appears as a vision of India's freedom struggle and nationalist movement. He envisions unrestrained freedom and liberation like the one that only death may offer. “If it is to be argued that a great volume of verse written with serious intent by mystics, by symbolists, by visionaries is so obscure to the ordinary mind that it may well count as nonsense, then nothing should properly be included in the category if it can be explained by the psychologist or by the interpreter of dreams, and if these soothsayers consider that there is nothing written which cannot be so explained then indeed there is no nonsense at all.” Works Cited Roy Sukumar. Sukumar Rachana-Samaggra. 1984. Reflect Publication, Calcutta. Print. Majumder Lila. Sukumar Roy. 2007. Ananda Publications. Print. Bhattacharya Krishnarup. Sukumar Royer Aschorjo Jogot. 1974. Ananda Publications. Print. Clark Nick. Britain’s Crimes in India - the Truth Behind the Drama. The Socialist Worker. Issue No. 2440. 10 Feb 2015. Print. Beck Sanderson. India's Freedom Struggle 1905-1918. SOUTH ASIA 1800-1950. Print. Manjrapa, Kris. From Imperial to International Horizons. A Hermeneutic Study of Bengali Modernism. 28 July 2011. Modern Intellectual History http://journals.cambridge.org/MIH. Web. Kabra, Shradha. Bridges to Breakthroughs: Tracing the Genealogy of the Indian Science Fiction and Fantasy Genre in English. 14 December 2012. The Criterion, Vol. III. Issue. IV. www.the-criterion.com. Web. Benjamin Walter, The Power of the Printed Image. www.readbag.com/wiki-phalkefactory-images-7-77

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